Members and friends of the Society will be saddened to learn of the death of Professor John Ryan. John’s wife, Susan Mason, has requested the following message be passed on to members:

Dear Family and Friends,

We wish to advise that John Ryan died peacefully in the early hours of Sunday morning.

To celebrate his long and extraordinary life, we are holding a small memorial service and we would be delighted to see you there. We understand that time and distance may make it difficult to attend; for anyone unable to attend, we invite you to reply to this email with any reflections you’d like to share and we will read out a selection at the service.

Our heartfelt thanks to all our wonderful family, friends and colleagues who have been so supportive and offered a hand in friendship to our special John over such a long and busy life.

The memorial will be held at 11am Friday 15^th July at the University of New England, Arts Building, Lecture room A3. We request that attendees at the service wear a mask.

From John’s beloved wife Susan, and his adored sons Thomas and Matthew.

The next meeting of the Society will be held at the Imperial Hotel at 5.30 on Tuesday, 21st June.
The speaker will be Graham Wilson OAM who has been collecting images and information to present a talk on ‘Armidale’s Changing Landscape’. We mourn the loss of some of the grand buildings of the city and the transformation and adaptation of buildings which were far more architecturally attractive. The new style of practical and bland buildings is creeping into the business streetscapes, while the heritage features of many private homes are being protected and respected. Graham will discuss the diverse factors that have led to the loss of buildings, public and private or the changes that have taken place.

May already! The year is zipping by. The May meeting will be held at 5.30 on Tuesday, 17th May at the Imperial Hotel, and will feature a presentation from Mr James Roncon, General Manager of the Armidale Regional Council. Mr Roncon has worked in a number of regional centres, most recently in Broken Hill. He has taken the Armidale Regional Council position at a difficult time when many local Councils, including Armidale Region Council, are in various stages of change, transition and financial stress. We look forward to hearing of his aims and ideals for the future of this region.

The May newsletter is now available for download – read all about our thespian members and their current production; the project recording Armidale’s wells; what’s happening in Dumaresq chambers; Graham Connah’s forthcoming book launch; and George Frederick Nott and his contributions to Armidale’s architecture.

The next meeting of the Society will be Tuesday, 19th April, 5.30 at the Imperial Hotel. The speaker will be Lyndon Hardman who will give a talk on Hardmans in Business. Hardman family members have been involved in a number of enterprises in the New England over the years including blacksmiths, bakers, and general storekeepers, but the name Hardman immediately brings to mind CARS. However, the recent sale of Hardman’s automobile business in Armidale has ended an era of the Hardman associations with garages and car sales.

Read more about current exhibitions and other news in the April newsletter:

My apologies that I didn’t upload the newsletter and meeting notice before the meeting today! Click on the link below for the March newsletter:

With a fresh start for 2022, we re-commence monthly meetings but, as we still need to keep our guard up against Covid 19 infection, we will hold our meeting at the Imperial Hotel on Tuesday, 15 February at 5.30pm, where there is space for social distancing and the opportunity to stay on for a meal and socialise. Appropriately, our speaker Graham Wilson OAM will talk on The History of the Imperial Hotel. Please feel free to invite visitors who may be interested in attending.

Click on the link below for the February newsletter:

A message from President Judy Grieve:

ADHS Committee members have considered it necessary to delay opening
Dumaresq Chambers until the end of January.  The current rates of
infection are too high to risk possible exposure to the virus (27 new
cases in Armidale in last 24hours) and identification of positive
results from personal Rapid Antigen Tests will not necessarily be
publicly reported. Added to this, we  are not being  informed with the
same depth of information as was formerly available. Time to avoid
whatever risk situations we can.  

Following on from that dismal note- Happy, Healthy New Year!

If anyone needs information from the Centre, a number of volunteers have
keys and we could access information from the Chambers for you ( phone
me  on  67751205 or 0431223701).

Hope that the coast is clear for our first meeting on Tuesday 18th
February which is scheduled for 5.30pm at the Imperial Hotel.

Best wishes

Judith Grieve, ADHS President

This year we have organised a November meeting which will be the final meeting for 2001. We have a particularly interesting speaker, Terry Brockhall, who will speak of his experiences as a Japanese Prisoner of War in Java in World War Two.

We will meet at 5.30pm at the Imperial Hotel, cnr Beardy and Faulkner Streets on Tuesday, 16th November with the opportunity to socialise over a meal after the talk if desired.

Journal 64 will be available on the night of the meeting (for 2019/2020 financial members)
and thereafter Journals will be available at Dumaresq Chambers.

Annual Excursion Saturday, 13th November: The bus will leave the Visitors’ Centre at
8.30am on Saturday, 13th November for the excursion to Walcha. For more details dowmload the newsletter. please note! The account details in the newsletter for direct deposit for the excursion fee are incorrect! The correct details are: Regional Australia Bank, Armidale and District Historical Society Inc BSB 932000   Account no. 635782 Please add your name.

The next Society meeting will be on Tuesday 19th October at 5.30pm at the Imperial Hotel, as
Covid 19 restrictions require 4 metres per person. Please note that vaccination proof and masks are necessary.

The speaker will be Peter Hoare who will present The Story of St Mary’s in West Armidale.
West of Jessie Street, Armidale developed as a separate ‘suburb’, with its own local Council
representation. Peter will describe how West Armidale developed with its own character,
community and self-sufficiency with industries, pubs, school and church.

The October newsletter has news of the November meeting and excursion, and notes the passing of two members. You can download it by clicking on the link below:

With the end of the current lockdown, it is now possible for us to hold a September
meeting. However, with the 4 square metre rule, we need to hold it in larger premises and
the meeting will be held on Tuesday, 21 September at 5.30pm at the Imperial Hotel where
the Covid conditions can be met and members may wish to have a meal after the meeting.
The Annual General meeting will held, followed by a General meeting at which former
Duval High School teacher and Principal, Alice Cairns will give a talk of her Recollections
of Duval High School.

Covid 19: Should there be any change in Covid 19 regulations that would affect the meeting
on 21st September it may be necessary to postpone the meeting, but at this stage that seems
unlikely. Dumaresq Chambers will reopen on Monday, 20th September and volunteers and
visitors will be back in business. We look forward to our masked community coming back
to the centre where we have exhibitions on the theme of West Armidale.

The August and September newsletters can be downloaded by clicking on the links below: